The Open Republic Association against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia and a private person sued Wojciech Olszański and Marcin Osadowski – the organizers of the anti-Semitic, hate-provoking assembly, which culminated in the burning of a copy of the Kalisz Statute on November 11, 2021 on the market square in Kalisz.

The Plaintiffs indicate that the Defendants, by burning a copy of the Kalisz Statute, preaching anti-Semitism and using hate speech against the Jewish national minority – which has been an integral part of the Polish Nation for centuries – unlawfully jeopardized the good name of the Polish Nation, as well as Plaintiffs’ personal rights, such as national dignity.

The actions of the Defendants and the slogans proclaimed by them put the Polish Nation in a false, extremely negative light and create a false image of the Republic of Poland. Slandering national minorities, calling for physical persecution of members of these minorities, calling for revenge on Jews and expulsion of them from Poland, as well as referring to them as “enemies of the homeland” – are in blatant contradiction with the fundamental values of the Republic of Poland. The statements and actions of the Defendants presented in the public forum humiliate not the Jews themselves, but the entire Polish Nation. Preaching anti-Semitic and xenophobic content violates the ideals of a democratic and multicultural society, and burning a copy of the Kalisz Statute is a kind of act of profanation of our national history.

Case analysis, preparation of the lawsuit and the plan for strategic litigation is part of the project Anti-Semitism in Poland: definition, monitoring, effective counteraction, implemented thanks to a grant from the “Active Citizens, National Fund”, financed by funds provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Funds. Regarding this case, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists is a partner and supports the Open Republic Association.